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Saturday, August 31, 2013

WPS - diy game day statement necklace

Do you know what today is? If your immediate answer was
not “the opening of Razorback football season,” then you need to drop
everything you’re doing and Call. Those. Hawgs. to get your mind right.

I’ve been drinking water by the gallon and feasting on
veggies the past four days so I can look good in my Razorback dress and sport
my latest creation, which I plan on sharing with you today.

I’ve been coveting one of the many red statement necklaces
on RiffRaff’s website not only for game days, but also to go with outfits like
the striped boat-neck shirt. Then my mother-in-law Snapchatted {yeah, she’s
cool like that} me a picture of her new gorgeous string of red beads, and I
knew what I had to do.

The answer was not
pay $35+ dollars on a beautiful piece of costume jewelry. I was going to make
one of my own.

On one of my many Pinterest browsing adventures, I had found
this template for a wooden beaded necklace, and I knew it would be a good place
to start. I headed to Michael’s for some supplies:

1. 3/8" wooden beads - I am sure you can look online to find wooden beads in the color you want, but it was cheaper for me to buy them plain and paint them. I used around 140 beads not counting mess-ups!

2. beading wire - I had no idea what I was looking for and the options were endless. My advice? Buy the cheapest kind, just make sure you have enough.

3. acrylic paint - I spent a little extra for the Martha Stewart’s pearl finish in “holly berry.” I liked the sheen it gave the beads instead of a flat texture.

4. silver chain - I went chunky, but pick whatever style you like best.

5. clasp - Once again, so many options. I went with the cheapest, but make sure that it's not too small to clasp around your chain.

I think all-in-all it cost me $15, but the remaining paint,
chain and clasps I plan on using again {real soon!}. So already we are at less than half
the cost of most statement pieces.

Step 1: First
things first, we need to paint the beads. This can definitely get tricky and
messy fast. I used one end of a paintbrush to hold the bead, and then used
another brush to apply a thin coat. The paint dried pretty fast, so I just
popped the bead off and set it on the newspaper.

Jenny’s Tip: This
is going to take a long, long time. So turn on your favorite show {maybe the
Razorback game} and make yourself comfortable.

Step 2: Once
everything was painted, I sprayed the beads down with a Matte finish spray
paint. This is not necessary and I did not list it in the supplies, but if you
want your necklace to have extra protection, you might consider it.

Step 3: I
followed the template to make the middle piece of the necklace. I secured the
final bead by circling the two ends of the wire through the bead twice, then
tying a knot. If that doesn’t make sense, just do whatever you can to make sure
the section will stay in tact once you cut off the extra wire. Honestly, I just
winged it so I didn’t have to buy clamps.

Step 4: Here I
started using the template more as a guideline than strict instructions. I
wanted my necklace to wider and more bib-like, so I only went up three circles
instead of four, and then I added two extra circles on each side. I encourage
you to be creative and do whatever you want. It’s your necklace!

Jenny's Tip: When you tie the knots to secure the final bead in each column, make sure the knots are all on the same side of the necklace so they won't show when you wear it.

Step 5: Once
you’ve secured the final columns, do not immediately cut off the extra wire.
Use a mirror to figure out where you want the necklace to hit on your body and
measure the length the chain should be on each side. I wanted to be able to
adjust my necklace to be short or long, so my chains are about a foot long on
each side.

Step 6: I used
pliers to open up links on the chain to divide it into several pieces. I
thought this would be easy because all of the necklaces I have owned that did
it on their own, but it took some grit.

Step 7: I used
the extra wire to tie the chain to the bead on the outer columns. I used a
double knot just in case, but I am still worried that it will come loose.

Step 8: I used
the pliers again to open up the link on the clasp to connect it to the chain,
and then again to tighten the link back up.

Step 9: Show off
your beautiful new piece of jewelry to all your friends.

Step 10: Cheer on
those Razorbacks to their first win of the season!

Be sure to tweet me pictures of your own creations at
@jennyfish10. Or tag me in your Instagram at @jennyfish10. Or if you’re
bashful, email me a pic at jennyfish2013@gmail.com.
Happy College Football Saturday!